"Minato! Hurry! I can't hold it down for much longer, and the chakra in its mouth is terrifying..."
Gamabunta pinned the Nine-Tails beneath him, then fell silent as he watched the terrifying chakra gathering in its mouth.
"That move again!"
In the distance, Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured to himself.
He was nearly spent. With one arm gone, pushing a behemoth like the Nine-Tails out of the village had already pushed him to his limit.
Namikaze Minato used the Flying Thunder God to appear above Gamabunta. Watching the Tailed Beast Bomb take shape, he frantically searched his mind for a solution.
I absolutely can't let that thing explode inside the village. The Nine-Tails is too huge. Teleporting it would nearly drain all my chakra. And if that masked man shows up again...
While Minato was thinking, the Tailed Beast Bomb in the Nine-Tails' mouth was ready to fire. Gamabunta raised his forelegs and forced the Nine-Tails' mouth shut, making it swallow the Tailed Beast Bomb.
The next moment, the space beneath Gamabunta was empty. The Nine-Tails vanished in an instant.
A distant mountaintop erupted with a rumble. A moment later, a blinding white light rose into the sky, followed by another enormous mushroom cloud.
On the street.
"Looks like you paid a heavy price. Want to go get revenge together?"
Shisui's gaze fell on Obito's missing arm, concealed in the shadows beside him, and he spoke slowly.
Obito emerged from the shadows at an unhurried pace. His robes were torn, but his presence remained imposing as he replied to Uchiha Shisui:
"It's just an arm. I was careless."
Obito paused and looked toward the distant Nine-Tails.
"No need for revenge. I just want to see how you'll tame the Nine-Tails and make it your summoning beast."
With that, Obito rested his arm on Uchiha Shisui's shoulder. A vortex appeared in his eye, and their figures twisted with it before gradually disappearing from the street.
In a forest outside Konoha, an enormous Adamantine Sealing Chains barrier enclosed the entire Nine-Tails.
"It's a barrier to isolate the Nine-Tails. We can't get in."
As he spoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed the Adamantine Staff in his hand against the barrier. Just as he expected, it immediately bounced away.
"Wait! The Fourth's seal is... the Dead Demon Consuming Seal!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the jutsu Namikaze Minato was performing inside the barrier and spoke slowly.
He struggled to raise his other arm, the one without a soul, and was overcome by painful memories.
"Sealing Jutsu! Dead Demon Consuming Seal!"
Inside the barrier, Namikaze Minato shouted. The Shinigami's arm passed through his body and reached for the Nine-Tails.
Feeling its soul being wrenched away, the Nine-Tails frowned and roared, "Fourth! You bastard!"
A moment later, the Yin Nine-Tails was torn from the Nine-Tails and sealed inside Namikaze Minato. The Nine-Tails' body shrank by half.
"Next is the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style!"
Minato spoke calmly. He raised his numbed arm and formed Hand Seals. A cloud of white smoke appeared, and Naruto, still an infant, lay quietly on the stone platform.
"A sealing platform? You want to seal me again—and into that brat?"
The Nine-Tails sensed Namikaze Minato's intention, raised a claw, and pointed its sharp nails at Naruto.
"Now that it's smaller, the Adamantine Sealing Chains can't restrain it completely! I won't let you hurt Naruto!"
Kushina hurried forward, putting her body between the Nine-Tails' claws and Naruto.
"Kushina!"
Minato reacted instantly, shielding Kushina with his own body in front of her.
With a wet squelch, the Nine-Tails' claws pierced them both and stopped in midair, a hair's breadth from Naruto.
"Damn Sealing Jutsu!" The Nine-Tails felt the chains restraining it tighten and snarled.
"We can't drag this out any longer. I'm almost out of strength. We have to finish the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style now!"
As Minato spoke and prepared to act, the space beside him began to twist.
"Of all times, now! That guy!"
Minato looked furiously at the two figures emerging from the vortex beside him.
"Still too late. The Nine-Tails has already lost half its body."
Uchiha Shisui looked at the shrunken Nine-Tails and remarked.
"It took a while to break through the Adamantine barrier. We're not too late, though. At least the troublesome one's been dealt with."
Obito replied calmly, then turned to watch Minato and Kushina as they lay dying, entirely unmoved.
"Hey, Uchiha brat over there! I'll agree to be your summoning beast! But you have to help me escape. How's that for a deal?"
The Nine-Tails sensed the contract within it and looked down at Uchiha Shisui, making its offer.
"That's exactly what I wanted, Nine-Tails."
Uchiha Shisui was pleased that the Nine-Tails had given in on its own. He wouldn't have to waste any effort making it submit.
"What a shame, Fourth. I can't let you seal the Nine-Tails inside Naruto. Of course, I'm doing this for Naruto's sake, too."
Uchiha Shisui walked over beside Naruto, twirling a Kunai in his hand as if he might stab him at any moment.
"What are you doing? Stay away from Naruto!"
The already weakened Kushina seemed to have been struck where it hurt. Her rage surged visibly.
"Getting so angry will only hasten your death, you know."
Uchiha Shisui spread his hands, making it clear he was only trying to scare them.
"It's time to leave, Shisui. Konoha's Ninja are gathering over here. There's no need for us to start a direct war with Konoha yet."
Obito walked over and spoke slowly.
Uchiha Shisui nodded, leaped onto the Nine-Tails' head, and pressed his hands together, changing his Hand Seals.
"Majestic Attire: Susanoo!"
Purple-black Susanoo armor covered the entire Nine-Tails. Then two thick, powerful arms slowly emerged from its broad back, each gripping a gleaming chakra samurai sword.
The blades were long, their surfaces wreathed in dense chakra.
Empowered by this new strength, the Nine-Tails let out a deafening roar, full of the exhilaration of breaking free and boundless fury.
It swung the chakra samurai swords in its hands, moving as fast as lightning. With a few sharp cracks, the seemingly indestructible Adamantine Sealing Chains snapped as easily as fragile spider silk, the broken links scattering across the ground.
Free of its restraints, the Nine-Tails unleashed its full power.
It whipped its massive body around. Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, who had been impaled on its enormous claws, were tossed away as effortlessly as fallen leaves.
Their bodies arced through the air before crashing down onto the ground in the distance.
The Nine-Tails didn't pause. It slammed a huge foot into the ground, which instantly split with a web of cracks.
Then it spun around and galloped out of the forest with Uchiha Shisui riding on its back, vanishing from the ravaged woods in the blink of an eye.
"Uchiha Shisui... just how many secrets are you hiding?"
Watching the Nine-Tails and Uchiha Shisui flee, Obito furrowed his brow. He couldn't help thinking of Madara.
With the Adamantine Sealing Chains broken, the barrier vanished as well. Hiruzen Sarutobi hurried over with a group of Konoha Ninja, swinging the Adamantine Staff hard at Obito.
"What! It went right through him?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi missed with his attack and quickly jumped back.
"Time's up. I should be leaving, too. Today wasn't very satisfying, but we'll meet again!"
With that, the vortex in Obito's eye twisted, and he quickly vanished before the gathered Konoha Ninja.
"Space-time ninjutsu?"
Looking at the mysterious man who had disappeared into thin air, Hiruzen Sarutobi instantly recognized the nature of the jutsu, drawing on his extensive experience.